Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed.
Check event website for more information.

Abe Lebos

Abraham Lightning Lebos has been singing since he could talk and playing piano since he was seven. He is inspired by Elton John, Lady Gaga and his late great-grandfather and lifelong musician, George Blumenthal. Abe attends fifth grade at Charles Ellis Montessori Academy and would like to live in New York when he grows up.

Andrew Scott

Acclaimed sculptor Andrew Scott lives and works in Savannah. His work has been exhibited locally, nationally and internationally and he has been commissioned for a number of major public art and civic projects. With a BFA from Long Island University and a MFA in sculpture from Ohio State University, Andrew also teaches foundation studies and sculpture at SCAD.

Blake Ellis

Blake Ellis often gets tagged as a “serial entrepreneur”, having been involved in numerous web-based start-ups. Most of his efforts fail spectacularly, but the ones that survive seem to do well. Successes include CommerceV3, Rails Machine, Smack Dab Studios, ResEngine, and Timber-line Interactive. His work has won numerous awards, including CBETA Innovation Award.

Blake Ellis

Blake Ellis often gets tagged as a “serial entrepreneur”, having been involved in numerous web-based start-ups. Most of his efforts fail spectacularly, but the ones that survive seem to do well. Successes include CommerceV3, Rails Machine, Smack Dab Studios, ResEngine, and Timber-line Interactive. His work has won numerous awards, including CBETA Innovation Award.

Christian Sottile

Christian Sottile is principal of an urban design firm based in Savannah.. His work has received over 25 awards, including an international Charter Award from the Congress for New Urbanism, and awards from the American Planning Association and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. As a professor of Urban Design and Architecture at SCAD, USA Today named Christian one of the Top 100 Academics in the Nation.

Diana Keough

Diana Keough is a Pulitzer-prize nominated medical journalist who is one of the few journalists to have won national awards for work in print and radio. As editor-in-chief at ShareWIK, Diana combines story-telling with expert opinion to create high quality health and wellness content that educates and engages users. ShareWIK literally means "Share What I Know."

Erin Fenley

Erin Fenley’s graduate studies in Design for Sustainability focused on the history of food and agriculture in Savannah and how they helped shape the present city. Today, Erin uses the common language of food to communicate issues of sustainability and environmental justice to a wide audience. She is also co-founder of Little City Roller Girls, a roller derby team.

General Oglethorpe & The Panhandlers

General Oglethorpe & the Panhandlers began on a Savannah porch in 2009 with student musicians Devin Smith & Anna Chandler. Joined by drummer Duncan Laria and keyboarder Daniel Wilson, the band recently released their debut LP, "Whistle the Dirges," to international acclaim. With their evocative storytelling style, rich harmonies, and bright tempos, the band is being hailed as "the sound of Savannah."

George Dawes Green

George Dawes Green is an American novelist and founder of The Moth, a not-for-profit storytelling organization based in New York City. Green published his first novel, The Caveman's Valentine, in 1994 and followed that success with The Juror. Green’s most recent novel, Ravens, was released in 2009. He currently divides his time between Georgia and New York.

Ian Leslie

As the marketing director for Lowcountry Economic Network and a freelance marketer handling online accounts netting more than one million monthly impressions, Ian Leslie believes in connecting people and ideas. A self-proclaimed “Lowcountry Geek,” Ian is co-founder of Fuse843, an organization that cultivates South Carolina’s “Creative Class” through virtual and real hubs.

Imke Lass

Imke was born, raised and photographically educated in Germany. Now a Savannah resident, Imke works with two medium format cameras and a gentle eye. Her images convey a sense of intimacy and compassion that make even the most faraway places feel like home. Imke's assignments have taken her around the globe and her work has appeared in publications worldwide.

Jenn Taylor

Jenn Taylor is a systems thinker and process designer who has been paid to work with computer systems since 1995. Because “hi, I’m Jenn and I’m here to automate your job” doesn’t generally win friends, she’s learned a lot about humans along the way. A University of Alabama graduate, Jenn is currently pursuing an MBA at Brandeis University.

Jim Donnelly

From Jim Donnelly’s first venture recycling golf balls to corporate marketing positions with some of the world's most important and admired brands to building and selling a popular online travel site to Travelocity in 2006, Jim has earned his entrepreneur stripes. After launching a business incubator, Jim is now focused on Kin Valley, an online social media site in the beta stages.

Jonathan Rabb

Jonathan Rabb is the author of five novels: The Second Son, Shadow and Light, Rosa, The Book of Q and The Overseer. He lives in Savannah with his wife and two children, and teaches creative writing at SCAD.

Matt Hebermehl

Matt Hebermehl is a nationally recognized artist living in Savannah. His work has earned praise from Juxtapoz Magazine, American Illustration, Society of Illustrators. Hebermehl has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, and of course, sweet ol’ Savannah. His work was recently featured in a six month installation at the Jepson Center.

Paul Bradley

Dr. Bradley is a practicing internist and obesity specialist in Savannah. A graduate of Tulane University and the Emory University School of Medicine, Dr. Bradley is a Professor of Internal Medicine and a member of the Board of Governors of Mercer University’s School of Medicine. He is also a member and former Chairman of the Savannah College of Art and Design's Board of Trustees.

Peter Bregman

Peter Bregman speaks, writes, and consults on how to lead and how to live. He is the author of Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change; 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done (due out in September). Peter writes a weekly column for the Harvard Business Review and blogs for Fast Company and Forbes magazines.

Tom Kohler

Tom Kohler was born in Savannah and has lived here throughout his life. He is old enough to remember when downtown was a cheap place to live and parking was plentiful. Tom serves as coordinator of Chatham-Savannah Citizen Advocacy, an organization that invites people to become advocates for people whose lives are being diminished because of prejudice toward disability.

Robert Batchelor

Robert Batchelor researches the history of globalization and the formation of knowledge networks. He holds a PhD from UCLA and has worked for NGOs and private companies. Currently an associate professor at Georgia Southern University, Robert owns Story Line Security, recently filed a patent, and is working on the rediscovered Selden Map with the Bodleian Library.

Radford Harrell

Radford Harrell is a serial entrepreneur, geek, marketer and generalist. His diverse background includes the U.S. Navy, commercial diver, Caribbean dive boat captain, medical device designer and biologic implant marketer. His latest venture, TalentSoup, is an online marketplace where models, actors and real people are booked by Fortune 500 companies for use in advertising.